Front matter of a book: what to include and in what order

Front matter is everything before the first chapter. It tells the reader, the retailer and the library what this book is, and readers notice when it is missing or out of order.

The conventional order is: half title, title page, copyright page, dedication, epigraph, table of contents, then a foreword, preface or acknowledgments if you have them. Most self-published books skip the half title and keep only the elements they need.

The title page carries the full title, subtitle, author name and optionally your imprint. It must match the cover and your KDP listing exactly.

The copyright page carries the copyright notice, edition, ISBN, rights statement, any disclaimers and credits for the cover designer or editor. It sits on the back of the title page in print.

The table of contents is required for most non-fiction and strongly recommended for ebooks of any kind, where it powers navigation. Build it from heading styles, never by hand, so it updates automatically.

Keep ebook front matter short. Amazon's Look Inside preview shows the opening of the file, and every page of dedications and acknowledgments pushes the story further away. Many authors move acknowledgments, a long preface and their other titles to the back.

In print, start the first chapter on a right-hand page and number front matter pages with roman numerals or leave them unnumbered. Arabic page 1 begins with the main text.

Manucheck checks that the essential front matter exists, is in a sensible order, that the title page matches your metadata and that the table of contents is generated from real headings.